PORT ALLEGANY – It really wasn’t a difficult decision for Millie
Williams.

After Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma devastated the Gulf Coast in
August, it didn’t take her long to decide, “I’ve got to go
there.”

But while thousands of volunteers went to Louisiana and
Mississippi to help people who had lost their homes, Williams had a
different group of unfortunates on her mind.

Williams, 59, has long been involved with “Caring for Cats,” an
effort not only to care for homeless cats, but to slow their
proliferation by encouraging spaying.

It was only natural that her thoughts turned to the cats and
dogs also made homeless by the devastation, and separated from
their owners when the people were relocated.

She knew that those animals would need all sorts of care.

Her first effort was to put out fliers to local schools and
other public places, asking for donations.

That did not get a good response, so she expanded, putting
fliers in veterinarians’ offices as far away as Buffalo, N.Y. In
the meantime, she got in touch with Janet Maranowski, who runs
“Broken Down Dogs,” a dog shelter housed in an old warehouse in
Alexandria, La., to get some specifics on what was needed.

Her fliers in the Buffalo area were fruitful, as Sharon Woods
saw one and got to work, eventually bringing a van and six pickup
truckloads of everything from cages and collars to food and
medicine to Hinsdale, N.Y., and the Cattaraugus County SPCA.

But Williams’ efforts to coordinate with the SPCA were
unsuccessful, and she ended up loading her mobile home and a large
trailer with as much as they could carry and bringing it back to
her home at Wrights, five miles south of Port Allegany.

After some repairs on the trailer, on Sept. 25 she kissed her
husband Mike goodbye. Taking along Abbey, her favorite companion
dog, and a snub-nose .38, she took her one-woman caravan south.

Things went well enough the first day, but on the second
morning, as she turned off an interstate in Tennessee, a tire on
the trailer blew out. Before she even got out to look, “an angel
appeared.” Actually, it was a state Department of Transportation
truck that cruises the interstate to help motorists in trouble. The
driver took her to a place where she bought two new tires, and she
was soon on her way again.

When she got to Broken Down Dogs, she found the shelter was
undamaged, but packed with animals needing food and supplies.

She quickly made friends with Maranowski and unloaded most of
her goods, but after a day’s rest, headed down towards New Orleans
with cat food for a shelter there.

The farther she went, the worse things got. Of the city itself
she says, “There’s no imagining what it was like . . . empty,
desolate . . . dirty . . .”

The cat shelter, where many of the animals were infected with a
feline virus like HIV, gladly received the food. Williams, after
calling several organizations and trying unsuccessfully to reach
the Cattaraugus workers she knew were in the city, set up her motor
home in a parking lot. There, she gave out food and collected 18
dogs, some from owners who could not care for them, to take back to
Alexandria.

Back at Broken Down Dogs, she helped Maranowski and tried to get
things together so she could start back home, but more dogs kept
coming in.

As much as possible, they were sent to foster homes, some as far
away as New Hampshire, and their pictures posted on Petfinder.org
and Starfish.org with hopes that their owners will see and claim
them.

Maranowski had to leave Alexandria for some personal business,
and Williams ended up running the shelter.

Finally, on Nov. 5, she was able to leave, taking “45 or 50”
dogs to Butler County in Pennsylvania. On the way, she found that
some of the dogs were ill with heartworm, and could not be left in
Butler.

Williams called B.A.R.K, a rescue organization in Ottawa,
Canada, and they said “Bring them up!”

With an overnight stop in Port Allegany, and a spaghetti supper
with Mike at Ron’s Diner to celebrate her birthday, she headed
north again.

At the border crossing, she had to check her gun at the customs
post. She then headed to Ottawa with 13 dogs and two cats.

One of the cats was a badly burned kitten that had not been
expected to survive, along with a lactating adult cat that had
adopted it.

The kitten, which the Ottawa folk named “Millie,” is now
pictured on the B.A.R.K Web site.

They are also paying for the expensive treatment to rid the dogs
of heartworm.

The trip home was delayed a bit, when Williams could not find
her pistol permit to retrieve her gun, but that got worked out.

Back at home, Williams still has several of the dogs she brought
from New Orleans, including a friendly pit bull and a chow mix she
calls Redbear. They are posted on the Internet, but have no
responses so far. She even knows the name of Redbear’s owner, but
cannot locate him.

While the Internet postings have reunited a surprising number of
dogs and owners, Williams said Saturday that it suddenly dawned on
her that many of the remaining owners could be dead.

She talks of hoping for foster families to care for dislocated
dogs while they wait for their owners and of the need for
establishing permanent local rescue organizations, especially in
Potter County.

Meanwhile, after cataract surgery next week, she will getting
ready to head south again the second week of December.

She may not be home for Christmas.